


Respect

by galaxymindss



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Clizzy - Freeform, Izzy my poor babe :((, This is kind of sad but it has a happy ending i promise so, anyway the friendzone is bullshit :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17320031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxymindss/pseuds/galaxymindss
Summary: Izzy knew how to respect others wishes, and she hoped those boys had eventually learned that as well.





	Respect

**Author's Note:**

> TW: sexual assult

When Izzy was seven she met Richard, a child of some important member of the clave who was visiting the institute. He made her laugh and taught her how to build blanket forts from her Mother’s old sheets, all through hushed giggles. He only stayed for four months, but that was the first real friend Izzy had that wasn't her brothers. He taught her how to sew with his thin fingers after the countless holes in the knees of Izzy’s pants due to her clumsy nature. His friendship was all quiet laughter and precisely picked out comments. The day before he left, Izzy remembered it very clearly, how could she not? It was the first time she realized boys would always see her as nothing more than a relationship.

He had pressed a clumsy kiss to her lips, despite her noises of protest and once he had pulled back with a wide grin on his round face, he handed her flowers he had picked from the institute’s garden. He then asked her if they were now dating. She asked him why he would think that, and with a puzzled look on his face he explained that they had been friends for awhile so naturally the next step was for them to date, that's what boys and girls did, right?

When she was thirteen she went through a sort of rebellious phase, always sneaking from the institutes stuffy halls as much as she possibly could. She had found herself at a park, and on the swings was a tall boy, probably a few years older than her, with a mop of dark hair that just barely fell over his eyes. He looked her up and down, his gaze taking her in hungrily. He gestured for her to sit on the swing next to him, and wanting to make a mundane friend, which was sure to piss off her parents, she did so, her feet just barely touching the bark chips as she had not yet gone through her growth spurt. He taught her to play rock paper scissors and told her about his favorite bands and movies.

She met him at that park every week for two years. His name was Aven, and he was two years older than her. He told her things that made her want to wrap him up in a hug and protect him from the world. He often met her with bruises littering his arms, and dark bags under his blue eyes. He told her he went to the park to escape his father, told her to never trust the words of men, after all they were only after what _they_ wanted. That men would never _really_ respect her, because all they would see is her thick eyelashes and curved figure. He was the one to tell her that, and it stuck in her head, but just two weeks later he tried to kiss her and called her a dumb whore for leading him on when she pushed him away. He yelled at her, asking why girls never liked nice guys as if he hadn't called her a whore a few seconds prior. She never saw him after that, no matter how many times she visited the park. She cried for weeks.

Izzy kept to herself until she was seventeen, training herself so that she  could use men’s idiocy as a weapon against them, ignoring how much she was hurting inside. Maybe when they saw who she was, just what she could do, then they would respect her. Then they would love her.

And yet, her years of isolation didn't stop Xander from leaving bruises of his fingertips on her arms from holding her down while he roughly pressed his lips to hers, telling her if she just relaxed that she would soon enjoy it. And he was supposed to be her friend, supposed to care about her. Why couldn't they _just_ be her friend? Why did it always have to be something more?

But when she was twenty four, and was able to hold Clary’s small body in her arms while the latter happily babbled about some dog she had seen walking home she realized that she didn't need the approval of men. Because those that mattered, like her brothers and her friends, her _actual_ friends, would respect her, respect her wishes without question, it just took her a little longer to figure that out.

Because when she had her first crush on a girl, a tall, blond girl who had taken up to training with Izzy, she didn't push her to do anything she didn't want to. The girl told her she didn't like her, that she would rather they remain friends, that was that, Izzy moved on, and the two remained friends. She knew how to respect others wishes, and she hoped those boys had eventually learned that as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Izzy makes me :'). Kudos and comments are always appreciated, and come say hi on my tumblr if you wann: clarynotfaircildd.  
> This ficlet was inspired by this (
> 
>  
> 
> <http://mattylightwood.tumblr.com/post/181735916748/thoughts-on-the-friendzone>  
> 
> 
> ) tumblr post so go check it out!


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